Last Updated on September 16, 2026 8:57 pm by INDIAN AWAAZ
Staff Reporter
PRAYAGRAJ:
In major verdict te Allahabad High Court on Wednesday set 31-year-old Ayush Malik at liberty after personally interacting with him in a habeas corpus case arising from allegations of unlawful confinement following his conversion to Islam. The court said Malik, being an adult capable of taking decisions concerning his own life, was entitled to choose his faith, residence and life partner.
Court has directed he be allowed to practice his religion and reside at his place of choice.
The Allahabad High Court, after interacting with Malik in person, observed that he was a major and capable of taking decisions concerning his own life. The court said that nothing had been brought on record to disbelieve his categorical statement that he had voluntarily embraced Islam. It further held that an adult is ordinarily entitled to determine his faith according to his own conscience and that family disagreement cannot, by itself, justify curtailing an adult’s choice of religion or life partner. Finding no lawful justification for continuing any restraint on his personal liberty, the court set Malik at liberty to reside at a place and with a person of his choice and to profess and practise the religion of his choice
Court heard the habeas corpus petition concerning Shamli resident Ayush Malik, who was allegedly kept under confinement by his family after converting to Islam and marrying a Muslim woman. During the hearing, Malik was produced before the court and reportedly maintained that his decision to embrace Islam was voluntary and that he wished to live with his wife, Chandni Qureshi. The court subsequently directed the Shamli Police not to interfere with him, according to reports emerging after Wednesday’s hearing.
A person who has attained majority is ordinarily entitled to determine his faith according to his own conscience. Such a choice, being an expression of individual autonomy and freedom of conscience, cannot be displaced merely because it is not acceptable to his family members.”
The case had attracted attention after Malik’s friend, Sultan, approached the Allahabad High Court through a habeas corpus petition, alleging that Malik had been deprived of his personal liberty following his conversion and marriage.
The petition had claimed that Malik had voluntarily renounced Hinduism and embraced Islam without coercion, undue influence or inducement. It further stated that he subsequently married Chandni Qureshi despite opposition from his father, Devraj Singh Malik.
The case became more complicated when another video emerged later showing Malik performing Hindu religious rituals at a relative’s residence. His relatives claimed that he had returned to Hinduism voluntarily and was staying with his sister.
The High Court’s intervention was therefore focused initially not on determining the validity of the competing allegations about conversion, but on establishing where Malik was, whether he was being restrained against his will and what his own wishes were.